The Great Escape
by DissidiaLord89
Summary: Zack Fair becomes curious about what the Chaos Project experiment is, but when both he and Cloud pledge to keep the experiment safe and help 'him' escape; it'll be worth it and a challenge. Not Yaoi, only a Friendship fic. R&R Plz. Post CC and Pre FFVII


_**The Great Escape**_

The day was like any other in the SOLDIER quarters of the ShinRa Company. All the 3rd Class, 2nd Class, and 1st Class SOLDIERs are fulfilling their duties for the company. As the operatives are walking about on either patrol duties, or heading to their destination, one of the 1st Class SOLDIERs was heading towards Hojo's lab; filled with curiosity. The operative wore the same uniform as with the others at his rank of a black turtle-necked shirt and overall-like straps to hold the black shoulder guards in place. His pants and boot fashioned shoes were of the same color as his shirt.

Like all SOLDIERs, he wore a belt that bore the insignia design of SOLDIER, provided by the ShinRa Company. What was different from the others was that he had spiky, black neck length hair and a 'X' shaped battle scar on the right side of his face near his chin. He carried his weapon on his back like it wasn't even there, called the 'Buster Sword'. This was the same blade his mentor bwielded before he gave it to him, at the time of his death. This SOLDIER's name was Zack Fair. As always, his boundless energy tends to cause some trouble, but today was different in a way.

Remembering what Hojo had told him about what he was doing with Project Chaos, Zack was more curious on what the creation could possibly be. He soon arrives at the professor's lab and looks around with curiosity in his blue Mako eyes. Lucky for Zack, Hojo wasn't around. 'Thank goodness Hojo isn't around...Now where could this creation for Project Chaos be?' thought Zack. He quietly heads to the far south of the laboratory, til he spots the entrance to the basement. Curious, Zack wondered what was down there in the first place. He made his way towards the basement and went down the steps quietly and cautiously.

'What's down here? I hope its nothing dangerous,' thought Zack. With each step, he was getting closer to the solid floor below on the bottom floor with each step. After finishing another flight of stairs, Zack makes it down to the basement floor and examines the room. In the process, he saw a bunch of coffins in the room. This puzzled the SOLDIER. 'Huh? Coffins? What the heck is this, a graveyard?' Zack pondered to himself. He heads to one of the coffins in the southwest corner of the room and opens it, revealing a skeleton inside.

"Gah..Bones? Project Chaos involves a set of bones?" said Zack out loud. He closes the lid and searches to other two coffins in the area, revealing only skeletons. He becomes frustrated to the point of throwing something at a coffin, but his silent frustration was soon cut off when he heard a yawn from one of the coffins. Zack couldn't believe it, was there someone or something asleep in one of the coffins? He pinpoints which coffin made the yawning noise and traced it to the last coffin on the left from the southeast. Zack approaches the coffin and opens it, revealing a man stretching from a long slumber.

The pale skinned man had crimson eyes that shined in the darkness. He wore a blood red cloak with buckles and belts, and a red headband across his forehead. His long black hair was alittle messy, but otherwise tamed. The rest of his outfit was in black, including his boots that had golden plates as armor. His right armed claw fingered gauntlet was also made out of the gold metal as the plating on his boots. The raven haired man slowly opened his eyes and peered towards Zack, unimpressed.

"Hmmm..Its been ten years and I suddenly get a visitor? Hmph..You ShinRa fools are all the same. Leave me be so I can return to my slumber," the man said in a grunt, preparing to close the lid that Zack had opened. "You don't get out much, do you?" asked Zack.

"What does it look like? I've never been outside for ten years. That...Ignorant fool Hojo turned me into a monster for his beloved Chaos Project and made me sleep for a long time. The only comfort I have in my solitude is my forms: Chaos and Galian. They never leave my side, because we are one...I don't need no lecture from a stupid SOLDIER. Go away!" The man growled at Zack, closing the lid so he could return to his slumber. Zack was in shock, this man is the result of the Chaos Project?

"Hey, wait...Can I ask you something?" said Zack. As he quickly opened the lid, a demonic creature with yellow golden eyes leaps out of the coffin and grabs hold of the SOLDIER around his neck with its claws. Its bat-like wings were opened, revealing a blood red webbing. It only wore red and black with a red metallic crown on its head. It glared at Zack while baring its double set fangs, also revealing a metallic pale face. "How many times did Vincent tell you to go away!" it yelled, not loud enough to raise suspicion from the above floor. Zack was up against a demon, but as always he didn't show fear.

"He told you to leave him alone twice, but you of all humans never seem to learn a damn thing! Leave us alone!" it roared at the SOLDIER. "..I'm not afraid of you, demon...I can take you down if I have to," replied Zack.

"You should be afraid..I'm Chaos, the worst form Vincent can take. I can destroy buildings at any moment and rip your head off with little effort. You should be afraid of me," growled the demon, revealed as 'Chaos'. Zack still showed no fear in front the demon. "Hmph...Tough one, aren't ya? Lets see if you can be just this brave with Galian," said Chaos. A dark fashioned aura surrounds the demon and its form soon changes into a werewolf form of a silver mane and black claws. Horns were shown on its head curled to point at one another. It also wore tattered black pants with a kind of red cloak-like belt around its waist like a kilt.

Its fur was dark grey in color. Its eyes were the same golden color as Chaos's, retained from the transformation. It roared in Zack's face, blowing a gust of hot air in the SOLDIER's face and head. A few minutes pass and Zack retained his cool. Not even this beast could scare this 1st Class SOLDIER. "I'm still not afraid of you," said Zack.

"You should be! I'm the Galian Beast! I'll tear you and all the others up with my claws in an instant!" growled the werewolf, revealed as the 'Galian Beast', or 'Galian' for short. "I've seen and been through worse than you...I'll take you down if I have to," said Zack. Galian was in utter shock. In a cover of the blackened aura, Galian turns into the pale skinned man, staring at the SOLDIER with his eyes wide open.

"You're..Not afraid of me? I don't believe this. Please...Leave me be so I can slumber. I must remain here for an eternity," said the red cloaked man, revealed by Chaos as 'Vincent'. He returns to the coffin and closes the lid to sleep. Zack thought for a few minutes and suddenly the man's name rung a bell. He heads to the coffin and confronts the slumbering man; then asked, "Is your last name 'Valentine'?" Vincent wakes up, yet again.

"Yes...It is," he replied. "Your name...Was mentioned often by the Turks," said Zack. Vincent sat up a bit and said, "I'm not...One of them anymore. Look what happened to me. You won't understand." Before he could lay back down, Zack grabs his gauntlet worn arm and pulled him out of the coffin.

"What are you doing?" questioned the former Turk in surprise. "I'm getting you out of here. Let me help you escape from this," said the SOLDIER.

"Are you insane? We have to get pass security, other SOLDIERs, and even Hojo...Don't be an imbecile," said Vincent. Zack knew this was a possibility, but came up with a perfect idea. "I got a good idea that'll get us by security," said Zack. Vincent didn't want any part of this idea, but he knew that it was too late to get out of this to return to sleep.

"So...What is your plan?" asked Vincent. Through the course of an hour, Zack had given Vincent a disguise of a 3rd Class SOLDIER and pulled his hair back into a tight pony-tail, but not too tight. Everything was in order, but there was two more things missing. To hide his eye color from the others, Zack brought out a pair of shades in the same style as one of the Turks both he and the former Turk knew by the name 'Rude'. The last thing left was to remove the blood red headband from view.

"There we go...Your all set now," said the SOLDIER as he brushed off the uniform's shirt from dust. "Are you sure this is gonna work?" questioned Vincent. Zack gave a nod of assurance and the two made their way up out of the basement. The two left Hojo's lab and headed towards the entrance of the ShinRa building. Vincent, in the disguise of a 3rd Class SOLDIER, was curious of his new surroundings and looked around, but kept to himself and made sure to keep the charade active.

"Wow..This place is so big," awed Vincent in a whisper. Managing on getting to the entrance without drawing attention, the two was almost there, but a familiar voice calls out to Zack, "Hey! Zack!" Zack immediately knew who it was by sound and turned to Vincent.

"Keep going til your outside, I'll meet you there," he whispered. Valentine nodded and kept going while Zack turned to talk to whoever was calling him. The one calling out to him was a blonde haired blue Mako eyed SOLDIER who wore the same outfit as he. This SOLDIER was Zack's best friend, just like a brother, named 'Cloud Strife'. "Zack...Where are you running off to? Personal business?" asked Cloud. Zack didn't want to lie to his friend, but knew that in order to keep Vincent free; he had no choice.

"You can say that. Something turned up and I have to take care of it," said Zack. As he told this lie, his heart was beginning to ache. By instinct, Cloud wasn't buying it. "Zack Fair...I can tell your lying to me...What is going on?" Cloud demanded.

"If I told you...Your going to get me in trouble," said Zack. Cloud was wondering what Zack was trying to say, but he was soon taken out of the ShinRa building and headed to where Vincent was. With all the explanations explained, Cloud understood why Zack had to lie to him. "You mean he's-" "Shh..Cloud...Lets head over there and set up base at my place..Come on," Zack interrupted Cloud, trying to not draw any attention. The trio made their way to Zack's home in one of the apartments, close enough to get back to the ShinRa building quickly. Carefully, they went inside the room and stayed there for a bit to think of phase two of their plan.

"You mean..He's the expirement in Hojo's Project Chaos?" asked Cloud. "He is...He also used to been a Turk, but not anymore. For ten years, he was stuck in a coffin inside the basement," answered Zack. Cloud took in all the information as Vincent took off the disguise and went to bed. As quiet as the dead, the ex-Turk laid down and immediately went to sleep.

"Cloud..You have to promise me that you won't tell anyone about this, not even Hojo or Sephiroth. If they find out, they're going to go to the director and we'll be hunted down by Turks; plus labeled as 'traitors' and killed. You have to promise me you won't speak of this to anyone. This is for Vincent's sake," Zack pleaded to Cloud. Too deep into this plot and saddened for the former Turk, Cloud promised to keep this between him and Zack. With the agreement made, Zack was relieved. Cloud's phone goes off. The blonde answers it and in the process Zack hears Sephiroth's voice on the receiving end.

"Cloud, where are you?" asked the SOLDIER general. "I'm taking care of some personal business at this moment, why?" answered Cloud.

"Director Lazard has an assignment for you. Finish what your doing quickly and report back to HQ," answered Sephiroth. "Understood," said Cloud. The conversation ends and the blonde hangs up his phone. Before he left, he turns to Zack.

"I have to go," said Cloud. "Alright. Remember, don't tell anybody about this, alright. I don't want to get both of us in trouble," answered Zack. The blonde gives a nod and the two high fived each other like good friends do. Cloud heads towards the door and opens it to leave, taking with him a secret he swore to keep. Zack then heads to his room to check on the former Turk, finding him fast asleep on his bed. The SOLDIER shakes his head in disbelief and covers him up, making sure he doesn't get cold. A day passes and things are going smoothly for the two SOLDIERs that held onto a secret to help Vincent out of the basement of Hojo's lab.

Zack returns from one of his assignments and goes in to check on Vincent, but instead he got a strange surprise. When he went into his bedroom, Zack saw the covers were off the bed and covering someone, or something underneath near the corner of the closet. "What the...Vincent? What are you doing?" asked Zack.

"Vincent isn't here right now...Its me, Chaos," replied the demon Chaos, "I like covers...They're so cuddly." "There went your title of being some kind of demon...Give back the cover, man," said Zack, shaking his head in disbelief.

"No...Its mine," said Chaos, but he didn't fight back. For a strange reason, he knew this wasn't his dwelling and behaved like a guest. "What are you doing? Hiding?" asked Zack.

"Sorta...I wasn't doing a very good job on that, huh?" replied the demon. Zack chuckled to himself, but was cut short of a knock at his door. Chaos panics and gets into the closet with the cover. Zack heads towards his door and looks through the peephole to see who it is. To his relief, it was Cloud. The black haired SOLDIER opens the door and allows the blonde inside.

"Zack..We got problems," said Cloud. "What happened?" asked Zack. Cloud looked both behind him and forward and answered, "I didn't say anything about this, I assure you. A few hours ago, word around the SOLDIER floor are saying Hojo went to check on his experiment and found out its gone. Hojo freaked out and now he wants him found. I bet the Turks are going to be involved into this." Zack was relieved that the secret is still safe, but was upset that the Turks are going to be involved in a search for Vincent.

"Damn it...We're definately gonna have to hide him-" "What about a turkey?" asked Chaos, still covered with the cover like a ghost. "We said 'Turk', not 'Turkey'," said Zack, uncovering Chaos in the process. Cloud was shocked by his appearance.

"Vincent is a shape-shifter. I saw it for myself," said Zack. "Oh...Hi, there," said Cloud. A few minutes pass as Cloud explained the rumors back at HQ to Zack. It all soon becomes clear: Vincent isn't safe at all in Midgar.

"Til we figure something out...We gotta be on guard on who's at the door. The only two Turks I think we should watch out for is Tseng and Reno. I don't know about Rude and Cissnei, but we'll keep an eye on them, too," said Zack. During the course of two days, Cloud and Zack made sure that the Turks didn't manage to find Valentine in a way so they couldn't get into trouble by the company, or worse by a legendary hero and his impossibly long sword. After finishing an assignment for ShinRa, Zack and a completely cloaked Vincent ventured out to many shops. Unfortunately, Cloud couldn't join them; due to being on duty with a mission.

As curious as a child, Vincent looks around the horizon he had not seen in years due to being expiremented on. They soon approach an ice cream shop and almost immediately, Vincent wanted to go there. "I haven't had ice cream in a long time. Can I?" asked Valentine. "Sure. I better come with you, just to make sure you're alright," replied Zack. Vincent nodded in agreement and the two headed inside the shop. Within two minutes, they came back out as Valentine licked the ice cream on the cone.

"There ya go. Happy?" asked Zack. Vincent nodded and continued to eat his treat. They walked a few feet ahead til Zack turned around to make sure they weren't followed, but this soon saves the both of them. As Fair turns to look behind them, he spots two men in suits talking amongst themselves. Zack immediately knew who they were: They were Turks and are named in order from left to right 'Reno', the red head wearing a pair of goggles, and 'Rude', a dark skinned Turk wearing shades that wields brute strength. Vincent sensed Zack's distress.

"Turks?" he asked in a whisper. "Yeah..Just act natural and keep going forward," replied Zack. They continued onward without drawing attention to themselves. The two finally return back to Zack's apartment from the close encounter. Vincent went into the bedroom and removed the cloak. Alittle tired from the walking, he soon lays down and naps for a few minutes as Zack walks in to check on him.

'Maybe the ice cream made him sleepy,' he thought. He lets Vincent rest for a bit, but soon a knock interupts the silence. Vincent snaps awake and gets up from the bed. "Go into the closet...Its time to hide," whispered Zack. Vincent nodded and went in the closet as told. Zack fixes up the bed as a second set of knocks were heard at the door.

"I'm coming! Hang on!" he called out. Zack mumbles to himself as he heads towards the door. He looks through the peephole and is shocked to see a Turk in front of the door. It wasn't either Reno, or Rude, but a black haired Turk that was familiar to Zack, named 'Tseng'. Fair opens the door with the cool to take on a situation like this and Tseng was prepared himself with some intelligence.

"There has been an incident at the ShinRa company. I think you might've heard this rumor from other SOLDIERs, but Hojo's Project Chaos experiment has escaped from captivity and is running amok. As advised by both Director Lazard and Professor Hojo, all SOLDIER personal are to keep their eyes open for it and to capture it alive, returning it back to the laboratory," said Tseng, relaying information to Zack. "I think I heard a rumor like that. Gotcha, I'll keep my eyes peeled for that experiment," said Zack, using a facade to stall the Turk's efforts to recapture Vincent.

After a few minutes of talking, Tseng gave a nod and left the apartment room, knowing that his task was complete. Zack couldn't believe it, what Cloud said about the rumors was true. He really had to find a way to get Vincent out of Midgar to escape safely. Zack returns to the bedroom to check on Vincent inside the closet. He opens the door and spots Valentine still inside, asleep. The SOLDIER shook his head in disbelief and lightly shook him awake. "Hey...The coast is clear," said Zack.

"Really? Who was it?" asked Vincent. "It was a Turk, I'm afraid. Don't worry, I didn't blow your cover," answered Zack. Vincent was relieved and knew that he was in the green. He slowly returns to the bed and sat down.

"I need to get out of Midgar...Its not safe here. I don't want you to lose your job and life," said Vincent, worried of Zack and Cloud's sake. "I was thinking the exact same thing...But where?" answered Zack. Vincent moves away from the bed and went towards the dresser stand, spotting a picture in a frame of Zack with shorter hair standing right next to a taller man with short black hair and a big bladed sword. They both wore the same outfit. Zack knew what he was looking at and went to him.

"That man right next to you in this picture...Is another SOLDIER. Who is it?" asked Vincent. "That SOLDIER right next to me is my mentor, Angeal. He always call me a 'puppy' in a way," answered Zack. Vincent looks at the picture further and looks towards Zack.

"Chaos has empathic abilities. He showed to me what had happened. I'm so sorry...It must've been hard to get over his death," said Valentine, sad for Zack's loss. "Thanks. It is tough to move on, but you have to move forward. Vincent...Why did you betray the Turks? Why did they turn you into this?" asked Zack. Vincent didn't want to open up, but then Chaos telepathically communicates with his former Turk host.

'Vince...He opened up about the picture we saw. Now its you're turn to do the same. Tell him what happened to you,' said Chaos. Vincent then turned to Zack and sits onto the bed. "When I was a Turk...I fell in love with a woman named 'Lucrecia'. When I first laid eyes on her, I knew that she was the one. Her beauty smitten me on day one. When I found out about an experiment she was involved in, I couldn't except it and tried to save her; betraying the others in the process. I tried to save her, but in the end...I end up an experiment myself. I lost her, Zack...I lost the love of my life. I'm a monster," said Vincent, telling Zack a saddened story.

Zack quietly sits right next to him and was in awe from the story. "I'm sorry...I really am. It must've been really hard for you," said Zack. Vincent begins to cry with his hands over his face, soon escalating to bawling. By pure instinct, Zack holds him in his arms, trying to comfort him from the pain in his heart. "Look what they did to us...Look what they did to her and to me," whimpered Vincent. Zack held him to try to comfort him as best as he can. Unknown to Zack, Cloud had already heard the story and letted himself in. The black haired SOLDIER looks up and looked towards the blonde.

"No one followed me, I assure you. Oh, my god...Did that really happen?" said Cloud. For the remainder of the night, Zack stayed with Vincent as he cried himself to sleep. "Is he alright now?" asked Cloud.

"He cried himself to sleep. Did you hear the whole story?" asked Zack. "Yeah, I did," replied Cloud. Vincent whimpered in his sleep and cuddled up more to Zack.

"Cloud...Its not what you think," said Zack, pointing his left index finger at Cloud. "I know, I know...But it looks funny," giggled the blonde. As soon as the blonde's sentence was finished, Vincent morphs into Chaos with his wings folder, purring in his sleep.

"Buddy," was all the demon said in slumber. "Whoa...He really is a shape-shifter," awed Cloud. Two days pass after Tseng's visit and at long last, they found a good spot to allow Vincent to escape. In a mountain range near Midgar, the two SOLDIERs and Vincent made sure that no one was around.

"Here we go...This will be a good spot to get out of here by flight. Your finally free," said Zack. "Thank you..Both of you. I know that this has been troublesome for you, but now I'm finally free," said Vincent. Before he left, he heads to Zack and actually gives him a goodbye hug before his escape. This lasted for a total of three minutes. Vincent ceases the hug and steps back near the ledge. He morphs into Chaos and flies away from the scene. Both Cloud and Zack stare into the horizon, hoping that Valentine would be alright during this time of freedom.

"I know he's going to be alright. Lets head back home and return to our jobs. He's going to be alright Zack, he's going to be alright," Cloud assured Zack. Zack stares into the horizon for a few more minutes and followed Cloud out of the mountain range, back to where they rightfully belong. A week passes and everything is returning to normal. On a day off from missions, Zack returns back to his apartment room and heads to the bedroom. As soon as he sets foot into the room, Zack spots a piece of paper sticking out from the pillow cover.

He immediately heads to the pillow and retrieves the paper, revealing it to be a hidden note. It was written by the ex-Turk himself. It read:

_'Thank you for risking everything for me. I don't know if my sins can be forgiven,_

_but I can at least try to heal from my eternal wounds._

_I wrote this note before our departure to tell you how glad I am to escape from_

_that damn basement. Freedom awaits me. Thank you._

_~Vincent V.~'_

Zack read this note twice and held it to his heart. He knew he did the right thing for the former Turk. Zack folds the paper and places it behind the picture of him and his mentor, but his thought was soon cut short when he heard someone behind him. With a quick turn, Cloud was right behind him. "I saw that note when I came by here earlier. I hid it there so the Turks didn't see it," said the blonde. "Thanks man...Lets make sure to not let this slip, or we're dead meat," said Zack, playfully light punching Cloud's left upper arm. The two returned to their daily routine of being a SOLDIER as if none of this happened, but in their hearts; it would always be a memory to cherish forever.


End file.
